19.2.09

some subculture splinter groups are just trite and lame. take for example the fixed gear riders who perform "tricks" on their bikes. stuff like flat ground bar spins, or one footed skids or wheelies. it's boring.

why not just ride a bmx?

it's actually pretty funny, the whole fixed gear hipster vibe. there seems to be such a fashion code for dress and bike looks. yesterday here in Halifax I saw two track specific fixes with the must have docked riser bars and bmx pad on the top tube. why not? everybody's doing it.

I guess the reason I find it annoying is because it's elitist. as in 'we're cooler and more urban than you' elitist. it's the same with any other subculture I reckon -like the Gothic Dolphins displacement movement, or the SoCal I don't give a shit loggin like an epileptic movement, or krumpers in Idaho corn fields claimin it, or coffee connoisseurs drinking the dregs shit out by civet cats in some far off rain forest for $10 a cup. damn!

yeah I can hear what yer thinkin. "man this guy just wishes he was in the clique." don't get me wrong, fixed gear bikes are amazingly fun to ride. one of my first posts here was about commuting on a fix and learning to flow. but for chrisakes its still just a bike!

or maybe 'ol Chinasky was right when he said: “To do a dull thing with style-now THAT'S what I call art.” bastard.

4 comments:

I'm doing the perennial "first-organized-ride-of-the-year, supports-a-charity, run-by-an-'establishment-bicycling-organization" ride in the Seattle area this weekend. It's a beginner ride and not that long at 33 miles, but it's still cold and there are plenty of hills to suffer.

This ride's also been beset in recent years by a simultaneous 'race' put on by the regional "underground" urban cyclist clique (they have a web site how underground do they really think they are?). Their big idea? Let's fuck with establishment "squares" by riding a race on the same course they run a respected newbie, charity group ride every year.

In their perpetual effort to be ironic, they have to fuck with "regular" people thus enforcing their own brand of elitism.

Sure Seattle has it's fair share of bona fide single speed hammerheads. I see great track stands and boys and girls regularly hammering up our ridiculous city hills (ie the messengers). But the rest of the posers/tricketers can kiss my ass. And my hockey-playing, lizard brained self is just hoping someone chooses to kid me about wearing wool and not emo-tight denim while riding the hills this weekend.

I think it will die out and like skateboarding, the poseurs will be weeded out, while the people that really are pushing these bikes to new levels will continue to do so. The 'fixed-gear' scene is no more ridiculous than skateboarding or surfing. The quest for authenticity and genuine passion is lost in a sea of surface-level posturing. Everything cool, gets co-opted and turned into a profit-driven commodity... you just have to look a bit harder to find the authentic.